


Riding Into The Darkness

by RySenkari



Category: Original Work
Genre: Attempted Murder, Attempted Sexual Assault, Crime, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Moderate Violence, Strong Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:01:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25899373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RySenkari/pseuds/RySenkari
Summary: Vivian Martinez is a young woman heading back to her dorm after a long and exciting day of BMX biking. When she encounters someone hurt on the road, she stops to help them out... only to realize all too late that she's fallen into a trap, putting her life in mortal danger. Determined not to be the next victim of a twisted monster, she decides she's going to fight back no matter what... but will she be able to beat the odds and save herself?





	Riding Into The Darkness

**Author's Note:**

> This story features a character from my Thrillseekers fictional universe.
> 
> Her biography can be found here: https://www.deviantart.com/rysenkari/art/Thrillseekers-OC-Vivian-Martinez-809536709

The sky was blue, the breeze was cool, and the sun was low in the sky. It was a perfect day for mountain biking, and Vivian Martinez had one more run to make. She smiled as she took in the sight of the rocky hill below, shifting her BMX bike into gear and preparing to go downhill.

_Think it's steep enough,_ she thought to herself as she adjusted her sleek helmet and eyed the trees below. The hill was a very sharp grade, and she knew that once she pedaled forward, she'd be going top speed all the way down.  _Now for the run._

Vivian was an adrenaline junkie to be sure, from the moment she'd first climbed onto a bike when she was just three years old, to the moment when she'd stolen her dad's screwdriver a year later so that she could take the training wheels off after her parents said she couldn't, to the moment she'd ridden down her first really steep hill during her first week in kindergarten... she'd taken her fair share of scuffs, bangs, and scrapes, but nothing could stop her from seeking that rush over and over and over again. Now she was in college, a grown woman still chasing the perfect ride, and though she hadn't quite found it yet, she'd found plenty of thrills along the way.

“Let's do this,” she said to herself, before pedaling up to the edge of the hill and angling her bike straight down. Gravity took over, accelerating her rapidly past fifty miles an hour as she maneuvered the bike down the hill, rolling over small rocks and pebbles and dodging the bigger ones, letting out a loud scream as her hair flew freely in the wind. Down she went, accelerating all the way, the trees looming quickly at the base of the hill as she screamed and laughed and rode, her bike bouncing with every tiny bump. There was a large mound of dirt near the bottom of the hill, and she angled her wheel into it, hoping she'd have enough speed to get some air time as she headed into the forest.

Her bike flew into the air, and she screamed again, a scream of excitement and exhilaration. She threw her arms up into the air for a brief moment as the bike hung in the air, then she seized the handlebars just in time to steer away from an oncoming tree as she hit the ground and bounced. Her bike was going more than sixty-five miles an hour as she glided into the dense forest, and she began applying the brakes as trees continued to zoom past. She'd scoped out this forest before ascending the hill, and knew where every tree was along her path, but that didn't stop her from having a few close encounters as she continued to apply the brakes. The bike slowed, forty, then thirty, then twenty miles an hour, and once Vivian was comfortable that she could dodge the trees she didn't know about, she stopped braking and continued to coast through the forest, smelling the air and feeling the breeze and letting out a triumphant shout that no one could hear.

_I love this so much..._ she thought, closing her eyes and smiling.  _Wish I could hang out here all night... but I guess I should get back, got class in the morning..._

Vivian kept riding her bike through the forest for three more miles before finding the road that would take her back to her car. She could see the sun starting to set now. It was getting late, and she had a two hour drive back to Berkeley... probably longer, since she didn't plan on taking the shortest route.

She parked her bike next to her car, took off her helmet, and let down her long, wavy black hair. She wiped the sweat from her face before putting both her bike and her helmet in the trunk, and leaned against the car for a moment to catch her breath.

_What a day,_ thought Vivian, smiling and looking up at the sky. The parking lot was empty, save for a couple of sightseers who'd parked their cars on the opposite end. It was a lovely piece of Central California... mountains and forest on one side, beautiful open sky on the other. Vivian loved chasing thrills, not just for the adrenaline rush, but for the beautiful sights she got to see along the way. She wasn't exactly the 'nature' type, preferring the hustle of the city to a campfire, but even she could appreciate the beauty of nature and how good it felt to be alive after a day of defying death.  _Wish Alex and the others were out here... then again, sometimes it's nice to be out here alone._

Vivian climbed into her car and got ready for the long drive back to campus.

_I imagine Kirsten'll be sleeping by the time I get back to the dorm,_ thought Vivian as she turned the key in the ignition to start her car.  _Hope I don't wake her... she's not the type to get mad about being woken up, but I'd feel bad since she's got an early lab tomorrow._

The car pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road leading back to the main highway. Instead of taking the interstate, Vivian chose a more isolated road, a four lane road that would take about a half hour longer to reach campus, but would allow her a better view of the mountains along the way. It also allowed her more time with her thoughts, and she tried her best not to think about the exams that were coming up on Tuesday.

_I think I've studied enough, but I'm not sure... probably should've been studying today instead of coming out here. Wait, no, I told myself I wouldn't worry about that! Vivian, you've earned this. You'll ace that sociology exam, no problem... ugh, then there's that early American history exam. Three page essay, and the professor said she'd be covering something from Chapters 4 through 10. That's a lot of material, and I've only gone over it once... but I've got all of Monday night to cram._

Vivian took a deep sigh and exhaled, banishing everything about school from her mind.

_This is why I come out here, to get away from all that! You're in college, college is supposed to be fun, you won't have to cram for real until you go to law school!_

Vivian gripped the steering wheel tightly as she turned onto the backroad, watching as the main highway went further and further away in her rearview. This late on a Sunday evening, there were few if any cars on the road, and Vivian smiled as she stepped on the gas pedal, defying the posted sixty-five mile an hour speed limit and accelerating to eighty-five once she saw that the other cars were gone. It wasn't as thrilling as BMX biking down a rocky hill, but it was satisfying, at least for the moment, and it took her mind completely off school.

Mission accomplished.

The sun disappeared and the sky turned dark blue, and the road narrowed and weaved through more forested scenery as it went further and further from the mountains. This was one of the more sparsely driven roads in this part of California, but Vivian loved the quiet and the chance to take in the sights without needing to worry too much about other motorists. Even though it was a cool night, she lowered her driver's side window, letting the breeze in and letting her hair fly, smelling the cool, clean air and feeling a wonderful calm.

She'd gone about twenty minutes without seeing any other cars on the road, when a pair of headlights came into view. These headlights were stationary, and sitting at the side of the road.

_Looks like a breakdown,_ thought Vivian.

She slowed, and upon further inspection, the headlights revealed someone laying in the road, not moving. Vivian let out a quiet gasp.

_He's not moving. He looks dead...!_

Even though Vivian enjoyed helping people when she could, she was also cautious... she could defend herself, but didn't stop for just anyone, even if they seemed to need her help. Still, this person _really_ seemed to need her help. If they were still alive, and by the looks of things, there was a good chance they weren't, they would need immediate medical attention.

Vivian made a decision. She came to a stop. The man, who looked somewhat tall and lanky, with disheveled brown hair, looked to be in his late 20s. He was lying on the ground next to a discarded tire iron and a baseball cap that had fallen off his head.

_He must have had some kind of an episode while changing his tire..._ thought Vivian. She wasn't a medical expert, or even as knowledgeable in these things as her friend Stacy, but she tried her best to figure out what had befallen this stranger.  _Maybe a heart attack, or a stroke... he needs help._

Vivian pulled out her cell phone... no bars. No 911. She pondered her options... she'd heard of things like this. People would stop by the side of the road and pretend to be passed out, then when someone stopped to help them...

_He looks like he's really in trouble. Dammit, if I drive away and he could have been helped..._

Vivian couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt for thinking the worst. She blamed her habit of staying up late and watching true crime shows with her friends. Her friend Kirsten hated those shows, citing their 'contribution to a culture of fear that fuels the growing prison industrial complex', and though Vivian knew her friend had a point, they were just so addictive! She looked at the fallen man again... he still hadn't moved.

_Ah, coño, I'm going to have to check on him._

Vivian got out of her car, but kept the engine running and her brights on. She approached the man cautiously, kneeling down beside him and looking him over. She put her fingers to his neck.

_Good, a pulse._

She leaned in for a closer look, reaching toward his face to examine his closed eyes. She wasn't a medical student, but she _was_ trained in first aid. If there was anything she could do to help him before she could summon a doctor, she was certainly going to try.

_Think I passed a road leading to Merced a few miles back... it'll be a bit of a detour but I should be able to get some bars once I get to the road, and from there I can call an ambulance...._

Vivian's train of thought was suddenly interrupted by a sharp blow to her right ankle. It was a feeling not all that unfamiliar from the pain she sometimes felt when she wiped out on her bike and came down on her leg the wrong way, but this was a more localized and lingering pain, and it was followed by a harsh throbbing, indicative of what was probably a hairline fracture. She shrieked loudly.

“Dammit!” Vivian cried, instinctively grabbing her ankle and falling to one knee. She looked over to where the man had been laying, and could see him now sitting up and holding that discarded tire iron in his hand. He struck at her again, this time aiming for her head. Showing incredible reflexes, she caught the tire iron with her free hand, grabbed it, and tossed it away. “ _¡_ _Pendejo!_ "

Vivian pushed herself up from the pavement, but the moment she planted her right foot, her bruised and possibly broken ankle once again sent waves of pain through her entire lower body. She clenched her teeth and kept going, making it back to a standing position as her mind tried to fight off the pain. Her attacker got to his feet at the same time, and charged. Vivian turned, and he slammed into her. He had at least fifty pounds on her, and took her down to the ground quickly. Her left hip and arm hit the ground at the same time, though her leather jacket cushioned her fall somewhat.

“Stop fighting!” her attacker ordered, in a deep, scratchy voice. He tried to pin her down, but Vivian, adrenaline coursing through her body, was able to prevent him from pinning her arms down entirely.

“Fuck you!” she snapped back at him, before spitting right in his eye. As he cried out and instinctively reached up to his face, she got a hand free and punched him in the cheek. The blow was accurate, but not Vivian's strongest, and barely deterred him. He used his foot to pin her afflicted ankle. She screamed. “Nnnnngh!”

“I said stop, bitch!”

With her uninjured left leg, Vivian aimed a fierce kick at the man's groin. She missed, and connected with his thigh, but it was a strong enough kick to push him slightly away. She wrestled herself out of his grasp again and kicked back, her foot slamming into his face. She heard a louder cry from her attacker, but didn't bother looking back to see how much she'd hurt him, and didn't bother trying to stand. She began to hobble, using her hands to scramble forward toward her car, and safety.

_I have to get out of here. I have to drive as fast and as far as I can._

As Vivian continued to crawl toward her car, her right leg still searing with pain, she began berating herself for even stopping in the first place.

_How could I have been so goddamn stupid? It's the oldest trick in the book, laying in the road like that...!_

Vivian thought back and briefly remembered seeing one car drive past earlier, and now that she thought about it, she realized that that car and her attacker's car looked quite similar.

_He must've seen me in my window and scoped me out... I don't know how he got ahead of me so fast... what does it matter, if I don't get back to my car...!_

As Vivian crawled back to the driver's side door, she started to stand, and began hopping on one leg, seeing that door handle and knowing that her escape was just a few feet away. She reached for the door handle, but before she could grab it, she felt the man tackling her again.

“NO!” Vivian screamed as she hit the ground hard, landing right on her injured ankle and screaming again. She could hear duct tape being torn off of a roll behind her, and looked back to see her attacker on top of her, stretching out the tape and reaching for her arms.

“Hold still or you're dead!” the man threatened.

_If I let you tape me up, I'm definitely dead...!_ thought Vivian. As he reached to grab her by the arm, she pulled it away, only for her ankle to send another wave of pain through her body. She bit her tongue and focused, clenching both of her fists. As he grabbed one of her arms, she sat up and decked him with her other one, causing his head to snap back slightly. She could see that her attacker's lip was bleeding from the kick before, and now he had a bloody nose to match his cut lip. “Get off of me!”

Cursing angrily, Vivian's attacker kicked her in the right ankle as hard as he could, forcing another pained scream from her. In that moment, pain overwhelmed Vivian's mind, and she could feel her eyes watering involuntarily. She was stunned, and her attacked got on top of her again and rolled her onto her stomach, grabbing her arms to try and tape them up again.

“No!” screamed Vivian, and elbowed him hard in the ribs. He let out a gasp, and she did it again. The second time, she could feel her entire arm burning with pain, and knew she must have hit a nerve, but she could also hear her attacker breathing hard, as if she'd knocked the wind out of him. She tried to crawl away, and he kicked her in the ankle again, forcing another cry of pain, and a shout of frustration. “STOP IT, ASSHOLE!”

Vivian's attacker finally managed to get her arms behind her, and began wrapping tape tightly around her wrists, pinning them together. She struggled ferociously the whole time, but her right leg was in too much pain to move, and he was pinning her left leg down with his knees. He wrapped the tape around her wrists several dozen times, binding up her forearms as well, and keeping her arms pinned helplessly behind her back. Vivian continued to struggle even after her wrists were bound, testing the tape to see if it would come loose. When she realized that it wouldn't, she felt her heart pound even faster, as fear and a bit of despair set in.

_No....no!_ thought Vivian, her mind racing.  _This isn't happening...!_

“There, now are you gonna cooperate, or-”

“HELP ME!” screamed Vivian, swallowing her pride and screaming at the top of her lungs to anyone who might be nearby. “HEL-”

Her attacker's hand clamped down tightly over her mouth, muffling her screams immediately. She continued to shout through his hand, but barely anything could be heard, as he used his other hand to keep her pinned to the pavement as hard as he could.

“Shut up!”

_Fuck you!_ Vivian screamed, before crying out for help again. She thrashed her head under his grip, and managed to get her lips free for just a moment, which was all she needed. She opened her mouth and bit down hard on whatever flesh she could sink her teeth into.

“God dammit!” screamed the attacker, howling in pain as Vivian continued to bite him. “Stop, fucking stop!”

The attacker finally moved his hand away and tried covering Vivian's mouth again. He missed, and she took a bite at his forearm. He pulled his arm away and tried to slam her face down into the pavement, only for her left foot to slam hard into his knee, forcing him off of her entirely. She began to try and crawl away again, wrists taped behind her, looking for something she could use to get free, and screaming for help again.

“SOMEBODY HELP ME!” shouted Vivian, as her attacker lunged at her again. “NO!”

Vivian swept her injured leg under her attacker's feet as hard as she could. It hurt, but the hard fall he took onto the pavement a second later hurt even more, and she could hear him curse as his arm slammed hard onto the ground.

_I hope his arm's broken,_ thought Vivian, trying to scoot away again.  _He won't be able to tape me up again if I get free!_

Her attacker's arm was hurt, having been gashed in two places after the hard fall, but it was little more than road rash, and he shook off the pain quickly. He grabbed the roll of duct tape and lunged at Vivian's legs this time. She kicked once, making contact with his cheek, but it was a glancing blow at best, and he was soon back on top of her, attempting to bind up her ankles now. She tried kicking again, but the pain was too much for even her to bear, and she was helpless to stop him from taping her legs together, which not only put a lot of pressure on her already hurt right ankle, but would also render further kicks a lot less effective.

But as he scooted up to apply more duct tape to Vivian's ankles, she started kicking him again.

“GET THE HELL OFF OF ME RIGHT NOW!” shouted Vivian desperately, fighting off the man's every attempt to tape her further with a fusillade of kicks, some of which made contact and some of which missed completely.

“Enough!” the attacker shouted, climbing on top of Vivian and trying to pin her down.

The two began to scuffle, the larger man trying to hold Vivian down and Vivian trying with everything she had to get him off of her. With her wrists and ankles bound, all she could really do was push her body against him, headbutting or trying to get her bound legs out from under him to aim a kick at his groin. Despite the man having a large strength advantage, he could barely keep the squirming, fighting Vivian pinned. She fought him as if her life literally depended on it, and though both of them were surging with adrenaline, Vivian was far more used to being in dangerous situations, having intentionally put herself in them for the last fourteen years of her life. Every time the man tried to silence her screams, she would bite him. Every time he tried to stomp her injured ankle, she'd move it away, or fight through the pain... which at this point was just a dull throbbing that Vivian took as a sign that her body was producing enough dopamine to numb it completely, another sensation she was used to from dozens of spills on her bike or wipeouts at the skate park.

_I will never, ever let you take me...!_ thought Vivian, who at one point gave the man an absolutely furious death glare, trying as best she could to convince him that this wasn't worth it and that he should just give up.

“You know...” grunted the man, as he managed to get Vivian pinned down long enough to begin taping her thighs together as well, “you have the prettiest brown eyes....”

Vivian shivered with revulsion at the compliment, knowing exactly what her attacker meant when he commented on her appearance. She knew what he wanted from her. It wasn't ransom, her family wasn't rich by any stretch of the imagination. Men like the one who currently had her taped up on the pavement of a lonely stretch of California highway had only one thing in mind when thinking about a woman like her.

_And I will die before I let him do it,_ thought Vivian.

At last, Vivian had exhausted herself too much to struggle, at least until she had a chance to catch her breath... but by then, she knew her attacker would have plenty of time to secure her the rest of the way. She lay there, flat on her back, breathing heavily, her jeans torn in several places, the button having been torn off in her struggles, her face dripping with sweat. She could see her attacker, similarly exhausted, even more sweaty, tearing off one more strip of duct tape from the roll. He climbed back on top of her, holding the tape between his hands, smirking with twisted pride and leaning toward her face.

“You fucking asshole! You cocksucking piece of shit!” Vivian snapped at him, determined to get a few choice words in before the inevitable gagging. “I swear to God, when I get out of this, I'm gonna fucking kill you!”

“Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?”

“ _¡Vete a la chingada! ¡Chinga tu madre!_ ” Vivian swore at him again, knowing her attacker probably couldn't understand Spanish, but really wanting to drive the message she was trying to send home.

“Oh, a free Spanish lesson too? This really is my lucky day. Now pucker up, buttercup,” he said, lowering the tape toward her lips. Vivian defiantly opened her mouth as wide as she could, and the man snorted in amusement. “Fine, keep it open, I've got something I can shove in there that I think we'll both like.”

“Fucking try it, I'll bite it-”

As Vivian replied to her captor's disgusting threat, he seized the first opportunity he could to seal up her lips, pressing the tape over them the moment he saw them close. She screamed, and started swearing into the tape, but this was a futile gesture, and she was helpless to keep him from smoothing the gag down tight to keep her from pushing it off.

“There we go... you're a lot sexier when you're quiet.”

Vivian thought about swearing at him again, but she figured he was the kind of sicko who was probably getting off on how pissed she was, and decided, at least for the moment, to calm down. She needed to conserve her energy for when she'd try fighting him off again... an extremely tall order, considering her current predicament.

_Just stay calm... this is a nightmare, but I'm still alive and I can still fight. I just need to wait for him to let his guard down. He's worn out from fighting with me..._

Vivian was scared out of her mind, but trying her best not to show it. She could feel herself trembling, and clenched her fists behind her back to remind herself not to. Meanwhile, her captor seemed to have an idea... and as vulnerable a position as he was in, the two of them still on a public road where anyone could drive up at any moment, he felt as if he had to at least get a sample of what he was about to experience. He could see Vivian's chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath... and without a word of warning, grabbed her black t-shirt and began ripping it down the middle.

_What the fuck are you doing?_ shouted Vivian, immediately starting to struggle again.

“Just letting you know who's in charge here,” said the man, who let out a moan of lust as Vivian's bra and cleavage were exposed to both his vision and to the cool night air. “Don't act like you don't want this too.”

_Fuck you!_ Vivian screamed, no longer caring about her angry protests turning him on... it seemed it was too late to keep her captor's lust contained.  _Get the fuck off me or I'll kill you!_

“That's it, keep yelling, play hard to get...” said the man, leaning over Vivian as his hands made his way to her chest. “Scream for help again.”

Vivian's eyes widened in terror for just a brief moment... then she looked into her captor's eyes, saw the evil lust in them, and her own expression took on a defiant glare.

_I SAID FUCK OFF!_ Vivian screamed into her gag at the top of her lungs, sitting up and headbutting her captor squarely in the forehead. He stumbled backward, his legs tottering as he grabbed his forehead and screamed in pain. She watched as he swayed, and thought that he might fall... but he steadied himself as his double vision began to return to normal, and though she could see that she'd inflicted a fierce bruise and a small cut, he was very much conscious and now quite upset.

“You little...” her captor mumbled, staggering over to the tire iron that Vivian had grabbed away from him before. He picked it up, and walked back over to her... then tossed it into the trunk of his car. “You know what? I think I'd better get you home... then we can have all the fun we want, just you and me...”

Vivian breathed a silent sigh of relief as her captor decided not to injure her further, but as he went over to pick her up, she realized that her chances of escaping had dwindled to almost zero. She began struggling and fighting again as he hoisted her off of the ground, but her bound limbs prevented much more than futile squirming, and only muffled swears could be heard through her taped lips as she was carried over to the open trunk.

“All right, in you go,” said the kidnapper, dropping Vivian inside.

Vivian let out a loud grunt as she hit the floor of the trunk, struggling ferociously against the tape binding her arms and legs. She was soaked with sweat, her chest heaving as her captor stood over her. He was breathing harder than she was, letting her know that she had gotten the better of their fight... for all that was worth.

_If the son of a bitch hadn't hit me with that tire iron, I'd have kicked his ass,_ thought Vivian.  _What am I thinking? A moral victory's not going to get me out of this!_

"Well, you're one tough bitch, I'll give you that," said the kidnapper, his smile revealing a chipped tooth and a cut lip, both inflicted by Vivian. "Lucky for you, I like 'em tough."

Vivian didn't give him the dignity of a reply. She'd already screamed and swore at him enough to make her throat sore, both before and after her lips had been sealed by tape. The kidnapper laughed, reaching down into the trunk and placing his hand on her cheek.

"Don't worry, I ain't gonna mess up your pretty face. Not yet, anyway."

Even as Vivian silently raged, she directed some of that anger at herself for falling for such an obvious trick. She never should've stopped her car. She never should've gotten out. She should've waited until she had a bar or two on her phone to call 911.

_God, why did I stop? Why did I get out? Why the fuck did I take my eyes off his hands? Ugh... no, I can't beat myself up. The only person I need to worry about beating up is this asshole! I've probably got a broken ankle... still hurts like hell. I can still kick him... I don't care if I mess up my leg even worse, better that than dying! ...or whatever else he's got planned for me. Not that it's not glaringly obvious._

Vivian took a good look at the man's face... his completely exposed, distinct face.

_He's not even wearing a disguise. No way he's going to let me live._

As Vivian's mind raced, a thought entered her head... a memory. A terrible, horrifying memory, from glimpses of news broadcasts she'd seen over the past year. Disappearances of young women, from all over the Bay Area. Most of them in college, like her. Five in all... all of whom had left their cars abandoned on the side of the road.

The faces of the disappeared girls flashed in her mind. The way their cars had been found, it was almost as if... they'd stopped to help someone.

_Oh, fuck. This is the guy. He's the one responsible._

_I'm in the trunk of a goddamned serial killer!!!_

Vivian let out a quiet whimper. Her look of anger and defiance, at least for a brief moment, was replaced by fear. And at that moment, her captor was looking down inside the trunk at her. Their eyes met, and he smiled.

"Heh... that's what I like to see," said the kidnapper, stroking Vivian's face softly. A tear went down the side of her cheek. "That fear..."

Now, Vivian knew. She was in the clutches of a monster, a monster who'd almost certainly already killed five other girls just like her. Her mind was filled with terror... but her heart, beating rapidly inside her chest, began to fill with rage.

_How dare you._

She imagined what those other girls must have felt, helpless before this psychopath. She thought of her five friends... Alex, Stacy, Kirsten, Elissa, Marina, and imagined that it was them who this murderer had killed. Her fear faded, replaced by sheer protective instinct, the same instinct she had to protect the younger siblings she'd looked after for years. In that moment, Vivian didn't feel like a damsel in distress.

She felt like an avenging angel.

_MOTHERFUCKER!_ Vivian suddenly screamed, sitting up in the trunk and attempting to lunge at the man, only to be roughly pushed and held down. _MURDERER! ASSHOLE! I'LL KILL YOU, YOU MONSTER!_

"Screaming for help?" the kidnapper mocked, not understanding any of Vivian's muffled curses, or caring what she said if he did.

_FUCK YOU!_ Vivian shouted. She continued to struggle and fight with everything she had, finding renewed strength despite her bonds and despite her pain. She fought so fiercely that her kidnapper was having trouble keeping her pinned down, and Vivian started to swing her legs upward in an attempt to climb her way out of the trunk. As she did so, the kidnapper walked over and grabbed a long knife from the back seat of the car. He leaned down into the trunk with the knife and pushed it up against Vivian's throat, pinning her down and threatening her with the blade at the same time.

"Stop fucking fighting, or I'll kill you right now!" he shouted, his teeth clenched in rage. “You think I'm fucking around? You think I won't slit your throat right now?”

_DO IT!_ Vivian dared him defiantly. She had no fear of the knife, and would've preferred it to whatever this sick murderer had planned for her.  _I WON'T LET YOU HURT ANYONE ELSE! YOU BASTARD! YOU SICK FUCK! I'LL KILL YOU! I WON'T DO ANYTHING YOU SAY!_

Vivian was determined not to back down, even in the face of death. She knew that if she didn't fight him as hard as she could, she'd be responsible for all the future murders this twisted killer committed... at least, that's what she felt as she looked into his eyes and saw only homicidal lust.

_I'll fight him until my last breath..._ thought Vivian, still struggling, pushing her neck up against the blade until she could feel it draw blood.  _I'm not letting him get me back to his house, or wherever the fuck he plans on taking me. I won't... I can't!_

For a moment, her kidnapper contemplated killing her here and now and leaving her dumped on the side of the road. Vivian could see the wheels turning in his mind, could see the hedonistic calculus playing behind his eyes. It was in that moment that fear returned to her, even through the rage, and another tear slid down her face even as she did her best to stay defiant. The man could sense that fear, and though Vivian would be a lot tougher to have his way with than any of the other girls he'd done this to, he decided that killing her now would be a waste. He smiled, his eyes lapping up every bit of terror he could from his victim, and gave her a hard shove to the floor of the trunk before slamming it down over her. Vivian lunged upward, but could see the trunk lid closing and stopped herself just an inch before it would have smacked her in the forehead. She was trapped in darkness, but she still wasn't deterred.

_COWARD!_ she screamed.  _Fucking carajo!_

Immediately, Vivian began kicking the lid of the trunk as hard as she could, attempting to pop it open. Every time she kicked the lid, she could feel her ankle screaming with pain, and she screamed right along with it, a gutteral, muffled scream of pain and rage that accompanied every single kick. The kidnapper stayed outside, watching the trunk lid shake as Vivian kicked it again and again, cursing him and violently thrashing as her feet slammed into the lid more than a dozen times. The screams and bangs continued without stopping, and after about a minute with no cessation of them or even a slowing down, he silently went back into his car.

Vivian could hear the engine of the kidnapper's car starting, and could hear it getting back onto the highway. Vivian's own car was left behind, its lights still illuminating the empty road. She continued to kick the trunk lid regardless, even though she didn't know what she'd do if she managed to get it open.

_I don't care if I end up splattered on the street, as soon as this lid opens, I'm jumping out...!_

As Vivian continued to kick with her legs, she also struggled against the tape binding her arms, trying as best she could to get it loose. Her wrists tugged fiercely at their bindings, while her shoulders shook violently as she rocked back and forth, looking for anything she could rub herself loose on. She felt around for the tire iron, thinking she might be able to use it to get loose, but the trunk was small and cramped, and she could barely move from side to side, making navigating the tight space almost impossible. If she could get the lid open, she might be able to sit up and scoot around to grab the tire iron, and that was her top priority...but after several minutes and what must have been a hundred kicks, she could barely lift her legs anymore, and the pain had caught back up to her. She let out a scream of frustration and lay flat against the floor of the trunk, staring up at the lid and realizing the absolute hopelessness of her situation.

For several more minutes, she stared up at the trunk lid, her mind racing as memories and thoughts came flooding back. She thought about her friends. She thought about her family. She thought about all the other girls who'd disappeared. She thought about her sister Marceline, who'd just entered high school. The two of them were always so close... Vivian had always been there to protect her. They still called each other almost every day, they'd called each other that morning.

_I don't want to die._

Vivian's eyes filled completely with tears, and finally, after all of that fighting and struggling, after everything, she began to sob. She hadn't done it before, not wanting her captor to see her in such a vulnerable state... but now that she was alone in darkness, now that the fear was overwhelming, she finally let it go, and curled up in fear as tears raced down her cheeks. She sobbed quietly, not screaming, not wailing, just quiet sobs that shook her sore body and soothed her sore throat. She cried for several minutes inside that trunk, no longer fighting of thoughts of all the people she'd never get to see again and all the people who'd miss her when she was gone.

She thought about who might be the first person to report her missing. Would it be Kirsten, after she never got back to her dorm in the morning? Would it be her parents, after Kirsten called them and told them? What would they think? What would they say? What would Alex and Stacy and Elissa and Marina think? Would Alex think she was just playing a joke? Would they go to look in the forest, thinking she'd gotten hurt?

_Of course they would. That'd be the first place they'd look. They'd look in the forest for me or my bike._

Then, Vivian realized that her car had been left at the side of the road. The road was almost deserted, but cars did travel it. By morning, her car would be found. Her purse was in there. Her phone was in there. Her friends and family would know she'd been coming back from her trip to the mountains... and putting two and two together, they'd realize that she, like the five other girls who'd gone missing, had just vanished without a trace, car and possessions left behind but nothing else.

And they'd keep looking for her... and like the first of the girls to have gone missing, almost a year ago, they'd never find her.

_Maybe they're not dead. Maybe he's keeping them locked up somewhere._

As unlikely a possibility as that was, it had happened before. Vivian thought about what she might do in such a situation... fight back, endangering herself and all the other girls, or comply and give them a chance to escape later, when he finally let his guard down?

_No..._ thought Vivian, rubbing her face against the floor of the trunk to wipe the tears off her cheeks.  _I'm not going to be one of those girls who ends up trapped in her kidnapper's basement for ten years. I know they did what they had to do to survive, and I'd never blame them for not trying to escape... but that's not who I am._

Vivian had been a fighter her entire life. She'd never gotten into a physical fight, save for some small friendly scuffles with Alex or Marina when their tempers flared, but her tolerance for pain was extraordinary. She'd skateboarded on a broken leg. She'd broken her left arm twice and her right arm once. She'd accumulated more cuts and scrapes and bruises than she could count. She'd taken thousands of spills on her bike, she'd taken spills so bad her friends were almost ready to call an ambulance, only for her to get right back up and onto the bike and go for the same trick she'd just wiped out on.

Of course Vivian didn't want to die... and she knew there was a chance that if she complied with her kidnapper, if she did what he said, if she let him have his way with her and whatever else he wanted to do, that he might just let her go... or she might be rescued.... or she might have a better chance to escape later on.

But she also knew that the five girls who'd disappeared were almost certainly dead, and even if she calmed down and complied with every last one of his demands, she'd be next. She'd die scared and hurt, and her body would probably never be found, and her family and friends would mourn her...

_And this sick fuck is going to kill someone else._

Vivian clenched her fists again, as tightly as she could. She brushed the last of her tears away, and with pure determination and rage, looked up at the trunk lid. She didn't start kicking again... she would need her strength for later.

She wasn't going to comply, not with one single solitary demand.

She wasn't even going to let him get her into the house.

_As soon as this trunk opens and this fucking cabrón touches me, I'm going to throw myself into him until one of us is dead._

That was it. That was the entirety of Vivian's plan. No matter what weapon he was holding, no matter what he threatened her with, there was absolutely no way in hell that she was letting him touch her again without a fight.

_I will not be his next victim._

Vivian started to struggle, focusing only on her arms and chest now. She knew the tape was wrapped too tightly to allow her to get free, but she was going to try anyway, in the hope that she'd worked up enough of a sweat to slip out, or that she'd built some slack in the tape with her earlier struggling. She was planning on fighting whether she had the use of her arms or not, but being able to lead with a punch would be mighty helpful.

_And I won't let him hurt anyone else._

Vivian knew she wasn't just fighting for herself... she was fighting to avenge (or, hope against hope, to rescue) those five missing girls... and she was fighting to keep any more people from being killed.

_That's the plan, anyway._

As the minutes ticked by, as the car continued on sparsely driven roads through the rural country of central California, Vivian kept at it with her struggles, trying to free her arms from the tape binding them together. She flexed her hands periodically to keep the circulation flowing, and tried rubbing her arms against one another repeatedly to loosen her bonds. She was quite strong, used to carrying her bike up and down hills and across parking lots, and regularly exercised to keep herself in shape, but the tape continued to hold fast, no matter how much of a sweat she built up inside the warm trunk. Her kidnapper had obviously done this before, and had gotten quite good at securing his victims so they couldn't escape, even fit and resourceful ones like Vivian. She tried not to let her frustration surface, but she did muffle a few curses under her gag as she realized what little progress she was making.

_Okay... so I'm going to have to just throw myself into him without the use of my arms and legs. I know how stupid that sounds, but I'm not going to wait for him to untie me... I doubt he even would after the fight I gave him. My guess is he's just going to rip my clothes open as much as he can and..._

Vivian didn't want to think about it, she drove the thought from her mind, closing her eyes and shaking her head as she imagined the sick plans her captor had for her. She knew she couldn't overpower him, especially in her condition, and though she'd make it extremely difficult for him to force himself on her, she also knew that there wasn't much she could do to stop him, even if she fought him as hard as he could.

_Not to mention he's probably one of those sick fucks who gets off on his victims fighting._

The car continued down the highway, leaving Vivian alone with her darkest thoughts and deepest fears. She and her friends had been in tight spots before... sometimes it seemed that the six of them couldn't take two steps without stumbling into an adventure. But this... this was unlike anything any of them had ever experienced before. This was no adventure, it was a nightmare. Her kidnapper hadn't taken her just to get her out of the way, or keep her from snooping around. This was deadly serious, as serious as it could possibly be, and there would be no chance of rescue. By the time her friends found out what had happened, she'd almost certainly be dead.

Vivian could hear her shallow breaths inside the cramped trunk, even over the sounds of the car's engine and the bumps on the highway. She could hear the air coming through her nostrils, and could see her chest rising and falling every time she exhaled. She was utterly terrified, and no amount of adrenaline or determination could fight off those fears. She wanted to cry every time she thought of her loved ones. She knew her chances weren't good. She knew she'd probably never see any living soul except for her would-be murderer again.

_I just wish I had a chance to say goodbye..._

If Vivian could've picked just one person to say goodbye to, it would have been her sister Marceline. Marceline idolized her, for better or for worse, and though Vivian had to work really hard to keep her sister from taking all the same stupid risks she herself had taken, she couldn't help but be proud of her whenever she would learn a new trick or land a sweet jump. She also couldn't help but be proud of Marceline whenever she aced a test or made the honor roll or brought home a school project she'd worked really hard on.

_If I could say goodbye to Marceline, I'd tell her... not to worry about what I think of what she does. It scares me to death every time I see her on a bike, but I can't stop her and I wouldn't want to. Do what you want. Don't be afraid. Don't let what happened to me stop you from doing anything._

Vivian choked out another sob that had risen in her throat the moment she started thinking of her sister. She curled up into the fetal position and sobbed again, her body shaking as more tears ran down her face. She was determined to fight, but in that moment, all she felt like doing was crying, as the gravity of what was about to happen to her truly sank in.

_I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to die._

She trembled violently, feeling her stomach roiling inside of her as the fear started to become overwhelming. She shook her head, clenched her fists, tried to fight it off, tried to think about everything she was going to do when that trunk opened, but all she could think about was how little chance she had of stopping this twisted man from doing whatever he wanted to her and then killing her.

And then, the car stopped. Vivian had been too wrapped up in her terror to notice that the car had been slowing down and making more turns, and now it had stopped completely. She didn't know whether it had stopped in the middle of the woods, or in the parking lot of a gas station, or in front of a house, all she knew was that the car had stopped and now she was hearing footsteps approaching the trunk.

_This is it._

Vivian slowly uncurled herself and got onto her back again, not knowing what she was going to do now... if she was going to kick her captor as soon as the trunk opened or if she was going to wait to see where she was and what he was going to do to her.

She could hear a key being turned, and a latch popping. Then, she saw the sky, and her captor's face. He was holding the knife that he'd held to her throat earlier, and had a stern look on his face.

“Don't even try it,” he said, before bending down into the trunk and hoisting Vivian out. She gave only a quiet grunt as she was lifted from the trunk, and when she emerged, she could see that she was on a driveway, in a neighborhood with a few houses on either side of her. Her captor's house looked fairly normal. “My neighbor's a really sound sleeper. Trust me, I know. It ain't worth trying to scream... this is happening one way or the other, only difference is whether we do it with a few stab wounds in you or not.”

Vivian looked at her captor's house as she was carried toward it. It was nondescript, one story, the yard looking like it was in need of a good weeding. Other than that, it was just an ordinary house... but Vivian couldn't imagine the horrors that must have gone on inside.

“I'll make you nice and comfortable, then we'll get started,” said her captor, whose voice was straining a bit as he struggled to carry her to the door. “Just relax, I promise this wont be as bad as you think.”

_He's actually trying to reassure me,_ thought Vivian, who shot him a look of pure rage as he continued walking her up the driveway.  _I don't know if he thinks I'm too worn out to resist, or if he's actually trying to get me to trust him?_

It didn't work. All of this fake reassurance, all of the threats, all of it was for one purpose and one purpose only... to pacify her, to take all the rest of the fight out of her.

And as Vivian was carried toward the awaiting front door, she knew that she had only one chance to escape.

_It's now or never._

Vivian began to squirm furiously in her captor's grip. Undeterred, he walked up to the door and set her down on her feet in a standing position so that he could get his keys and unlock it.

“I told you, it's pointless-”

As soon as her feet hit the ground, Vivian slammed into him with everything she could muster, throwing her hip into his side in an attempt to knock him off balance. He stumbled slightly, and she took a single hop toward him before doing it again, grunting as her sore leg came down but undeterred by the pain as she slammed into him a second time. This nearly made him fall onto the grass, and he quickly took his knife back into his hand.

“Stop it!” he shouted at her.

_LET ME GO! HELP!_ screamed Vivian through her gag, hoping her captor was lying about his soundly sleeping neighbors. She threw herself at him again, this time jumping and falling deliberately at his chest to send them both into the grass. She cried out for help again, and tried to shift her body around so that she could aim another kick at his face.

“I don't think so,” said the kidnapper, who quickly climbed on top of Vivian, knife in hand. He raised the knife and prepared to stab her in the side, while using his own legs to pin hers down. “You're not the first girl who tried fighting back...”

For the first time, her captor acknowledged his other victims. Vivian's eyes went wide, and as the knife came down, she broke free and rolled out of the way, causing him to slash only air. Then, using her bound arms to give herself some leverage, she pushed her legs upward, aiming a kick directly at his face. Her aim was true, and her captor found himself knocked back again, the cut on his lip reopening as blood began to run down his chin.

_HELP! HELP ME!_ Vivian screamed, looking at the nearest house and screaming through her gag at the top of her lungs. Her screamed, though muffled, were still quite loud, but her captor wasn't deterred, and was soon on top of her. Instead of trying to stab her, he punched her in the face. Vivian let out a cry of pain as her head snapped back, and her vision began to blur.

“You like that, huh?” said the kidnapper, climbing on top of Vivian. “You like it really rough, huh?”

As Vivian struggled to recover, she saw out of the corner of her eye that the kidnapper was rearing back to strike her a second time. She moved her head slightly out of the way, but his fist still made contact, this time striking a more glancing blow. He came down with another punch, and her eyes went wide.

_No, no, no!_ thought Vivian, just before being struck again. She began to go into a daze, and she could feel her nose starting to bleed as the bare fist slammed into her. She tried to fight him off of her, but with her arms pinned on the ground and her legs pinned beneath his weight, she knew she didn't have any chance of overpowering him. His fist came down again.  _Oh, God!_

The next punch made a similar impact, forcing more blood from Vivian's nose and causing her ears to ring. She could feel her consciousness fading, and realized what the kidnapper had in mind.

_He's just going to keep punching me until I pass out. When I wake up, there's no way I'll be able to fight him off. When I wake up, he'll already have started._

The man's weight on top of her might as well have been the weight of the entire world. She could see him smiling as she reeled from the latest blow, a sadistic grin, coupled with a laugh indicating that he was enjoying this, enjoying the beating he was giving her, enjoying the pain he was inflicting. He taunted her again, but her ears were still ringing, and she barely understood a word that he said. Then, she saw his fist clench again, and rear up to strike.

_I can't let him hit me again. If he hits me again, it's over._

She clenched her fists tightly behind her, grabbing a handful of grass in each fist, steadying and steeling herself for the next blow. At the same time, she could feel the weight of his legs relax just slightly, as if he was going to put extra effort into this punch.

At that moment, she seized her opportunity. She bent her legs as much as she could and jerked her knees upward, catching her captor right in the groin. He gasped, his fist still slamming into her face, but diverted enough that it merely impacted her cheek again and not her skull. She kneed him again, and pushed upward with all of her might, forcing him to roll off of her.

“You fucking cunt,” he muttered as she started to crawl away. He leapt onto her from behind, knife in hand, and raised it up. She threw her head backward as he stabbed forward, the back of her head catching him in the face and causing his slash to cut only through her jacket and the back of his t-shirt, failing to catch any of her skin.

_HELP! HELP! SOMEONE HELP ME!_ screamed Vivian, crawling backward away from her captor and back onto the concrete driveway. She then tried to get back to her feet, hoping that she could get up and hop to the neighbor's house, but the kidnapper recovered quickly, lunging at her with knife in hand. She kicked upward at him again, catching him in the knee, only for him to fall upon her and stab at her side. She kicked at him a second time, but missed entirely, while he was able to slash her, cutting into her jacket and shirt and skin and spilling a few drops of blood onto the pavement.  _Fuck...!_

“Now look what you did, you stupid bitch...” muttered the kidnapper. “I'm going to have to clean that up.”

Vivian breathed heavily from exertion, continuing to scoot back across the driveway, knowing it would be futile to try and stand with the kidnapper still attacking her. She continued calling for help, trying to push her tongue out to force off the gag, but it was stuck on tightly, and muted her screams far below the volume level required to wake the people next door. Her only hope was to keep fighting him off until he gave up or until he was incapacitated, but even though she'd been able to keep him from getting her inside the house, she knew she couldn't keep fighting him forever in her state.

_He's not going to give up,_ thought Vivian.  _I know too much. I've seen his face and where he lives. He's fighting for his life too. Only one of us is getting out of this alive._

Her captor ran toward her again, and Vivian started kicking... but this time, he tried something different. Instead of falling on top of her, or going down to her level, he walked around beside her.

The next thing Vivian felt was a foot slamming into her ribs. Though her jacket cushioned the blow enough to keep her ribs from breaking, the kick was still extremely hard, and knocked almost all of the wind out of her immediately. She could feel herself coughing and gasping, and barely had time to recover before the next blow came.

_¡Mierda!_ Vivian exclaimed, gasping for breath as the second kick impacted her. She could feel that her rib probably wasn't broken, but was clearly badly bruised now, and she was still having trouble breathing. Screaming for help now was completely out of the question. Then, the next kick came in, catching her in the stomach this time. Her nostrils flared, several more drops of blood spewing out of them onto the pavement, and she doubled over on the ground, rocking back and forth. With her arms bound, she was completely unable to protect herself, a fact her captor took advantage of, striking at her again with yet another kick.

“We can do this the easy way, where you let me drag your ass into the house,” said Vivian's captor, before kicking her a fifth time. “Or we can do this the hard way, where I fuck you while you lay there with all your ribs broken. Either way works for me.”

Vivian's eyes were now wide with pain and terror, as she lay there gasping for air, completely unable to breathe. Whenever she did make a sound, it was one of pure anguish, as her entire midsection burned and throbbed with pain. She looked up at him, and for a moment, her expression was one of pleading... but this only seemed to fuel his sadism even more, and he struck her with yet another kick, forcing another silent gasp from her prone form. She rolled onto her back, and another tear made its way down her face.

_It's over..._ she thought, the pain overwhelming her and no longer allowing her to fight back even in her mind.  _He's going to torture me and kill me, and there's nothing I can do._

Her kidnapper smiled with twisted satisfaction, walking back over to his trunk. Vivian lay there on the ground, still struggling to catch her breath, looking up at the starry sky that she knew she was seeing for the last time.

_Mom, dad, hermanos, hermanas... Alex, Elissa, Kirsten, Marina, Stacy... I'm so sorry._

The kidnapper grabbed something out of his trunk before closing it... it was the tire iron from before, and now he was planning to use it to strike one last blow.

“I don't think you got the message before,” he said, walking over to her with menacing intent, gripping the tire iron tightly. He looked down at her legs, and smiled. “You'll understand a lot better now.”

Vivian looked at that tire iron, the same one that had inflicted the crippling injury to her right ankle, the same one that had started this whole nightmare. She knew exactly what he planned to do with it, and her eyes went even wider.

_He's going to break both of my legs... until I can't even walk or kick him._

Vivian was still trying to catch her breath as the kidnapper stood over her, looking down into her eyes to drink up every last drop of her fear. She looked back up at him, trying desperately to show that she wasn't afraid, but the tears streaking down her face and the pained expression in her eyes betrayed her thoughts.

She was terrified, and with the last breath she had, she screamed at the top of her lungs, hoping desperately that someone, anyone would hear. Her voice, still muffled, barely echoed out of the driveway, and by the time the sound reached the house of the sleeping neighbor, it had faded completely.

For all of her efforts, for all of her fighting, no one had heard her. No one would hear her.

The kidnapper lifted up the tire iron and prepared to swing it down.

And Vivian, her entire life flashing before her, her short future blinking away, let out one more scream.

And she lifted her legs and swung them as hard as she could into the ankles of her captor.

The sudden blow caught him off guard, immediately taking his legs out from under him. With his tire iron gripped in both hands, there was nothing he could do to cushion the blow. He slammed head first into the hard concrete driveway, and his skull made a sickening sound as it hit the pavement.

The tire iron clattered harmlessly to the ground a couple of feet away, making a loud metallic clang as it impacted. Vivian, her nostrils and chest both moving rapidly as her heart pounded inside of her, scooted back to survey the damage, a look of complete and utter shock on her face that her desperate kick had worked. She could already see a small pool of blood forming beneath her captor's head, and thought immediately that he must be deceased.

_Holy shit..._ thought Vivian, her entire body trembling. She stared at the fallen kidnapper for several more seconds, observing him for any signs of life, but she couldn't see him breathing or moving.  _Oh my god, I actually killed him._

Overwhelmed by emotion, Vivian lay there for several more seconds, closing her eyes and letting out another scream. For those few seconds, her pain completely went away, and all she could do was sob and cry out, feeling a wave of relief but also feeling the shock and horror of what she'd just endured and what she'd just done.

Then, she realized that her work wasn't over just yet. She looked over at the neighbor's house, the doorstep about fifty feet away. She began looking around for something, anything that she could use to rub off her gag. She needed to be able to speak, to communicate, to scream if she had to... she didn't trust that the person next door would be willing to help her if she couldn't. She was so terrified, too terrified of any other stranger right now to take any chances. She crawled on the ground, looked toward her captor's house, looked at the car for anything she might be able to use to get the tape off.

_Come on... dammit, come on, I just need to get one corner loose!_

Finally, she saw a bit of rust on the side of the kidnapper's car, and crawled over to it, rubbing her face against the sharp bit of brown metal to try and dislodge a single corner of the duct tape over her lips. She had desperation in her eyes as she worked, occasionally stealing glances back at her captor to make sure he wasn't about to wake up. She knew the blow to his head from that fall had probably been fatal, but in her terrified mind, the twisted man could stir at any moment, and every second counted in her effort to get that tape off her mouth.

_Why is it so sticky? Why isn't this working?_

Vivian felt another tear slide down her cheek as her face scraped against the bit of rust, hoping she wouldn't break it off in her struggles. Finally, a bit of her tapegag caught on, and she managed to yank the entire upper left corner of it loose. Now with the gag dangling from her face, it was easy enough work to press the sticky piece of it against the side of the car and yank her head to one side, peeling the rest of the tape off with a loud ripping sound and forcing a scream from her lips as her skin stung with the sensation.

“Nnnngh!” Vivian grunted as her mouth was freed entirely. She took a gulp of fresh night air and began gasping, leaning over the ground as she tried to catch her breath. She spat once, a clump of blood and saliva hitting the pavement underneath her, before finally speaking her first free words since she managed to remove the gag. “Oh thank God... oh... _ay dios mio... no puedo creer que estoy vivo..._ ”

She sniffled and watched as several more tears fell onto the pavement below, and looked back over at the kidnapper, still laying on the pavement, though there was no longer blood flowing out of the cut on his head. She looked back at the nearby house, and took a deep breath, hoping there would be help inside.

_I still have work to do. No time to celebrate, not yet._

Not wanting to risk hurting herself by falling, and not wanting to further aggravate her injured leg, she decided to crawl instead of hop, even though it would take a bit longer. She squirmed on her stomach across the driveway, crawling into the grass and using her legs to push herself over to the doorstep of the house, sitting there for a few moments and wondering if it was really a good idea to be knocking on someone's door like this in the middle of the night.

_What if they don't wake up? What if they think I'm an intruder and try to shoot me?_

Another terrifying thought entered Vivian's mind.

_What if it's another pervert and they see me like this and decide to kidnap me too?_

Swallowing her fear and her pride, Vivian sighed and looked up at the door, then lifted her legs and began kicking it as hard as she could.

“HELP! HELP ME, PLEASE!” Vivian screamed, hoping the desperation and fear in her voice would come through and convince whoever was on the other side of the door to help her. “I'VE BEEN KIDNAPPED AND I NEED HELP, PLEASE OPEN UP!”

Soon, she could hear stirring inside, and saw the door open to reveal a middle-aged man with graying hair. As soon as he saw Vivian on the other side of the door, his eyes went wide with shock, and he looked back inside the house to signal his wife.

“Angie, call 911!” shouted the man.

“Your next door neighbor, he kidnapped me...” breathed Vivian. “I think he's some kind of serial killer, I think he's the one who kidnapped those girls on the news....!”

The man, who'd never been confronted with a situation like this before, was completely stunned. He didn't know if the man Vivian was yelling about was still out there, he didn't know whether Vivian was in need of medical attention... he just saw a bruised, bleeding, taped up young woman sitting on his doorstep, and could barely bring himself to speak to her, let alone untie her.

“Is he still out there....?” the man finally said, his voice trembling slightly.

“No, I think I killed him,” Vivian replied, looking away slightly as she said those words. “I fought him off, and he fell, and...”

“It's okay!” yelled the man's wife from inside the house, still holding a phone in her hand. “The police and an ambulance are on their way!”

“Thank you...” said Vivian quietly, sighing with relief. The man in the doorway leaned down to help her to her feet, and she found herself jerking away from him out of traumatic instinct. “....!!!”

“I'm sorry, are you hurt?”

“No, no...” said Vivian, looking back up at him. “I.... I just....”

Vivian's voice was trembling. She was on the verge of sobbing again, and the man in the doorway could see just how frightened and traumatized she was. He leaned down and helped her to her feet.

“Wait there, I'll get something to cut you loose.”

“Thank you,” said Vivian again, before bowing her head and sobbing quietly. She had never felt like this before... so helpless and scared, so utterly shocked and terrified, so much so that even someone's touch frightened her in a way that she'd never been frightened before. She used to pride herself on being so fearless, and realized that even though she was no longer in physical danger, her ordeal was just beginning.

The man returned with a knife, and Vivian shrunk away from it again for a moment before turning and offering her wrists for him to free. Soon, she was completely untied, and he was helping her into the house and offering her a place on his couch to sit down.

“Do you want me to get you something?” he asked.

“No,” she replied softly, shaking her head. She didn't want anything to drink, not even a glass of water, for fear that this stranger might drug her... even if he'd just helped her, even if the police were on their way, she couldn't bring herself to drink even a single drop of something that she didn't pour herself. “But... thank you.”

Vivian just sat there on that couch, watching everything the man and woman did... looking around, seeing pictures of their teenage son, seeing their furniture and decorations. Everything felt like a blur, completely surreal. She listened to the woman continue to talk to the 911 dispatcher on the phone and counted the minutes until she could hear sirens arrive, every minute seeming like an hour. She tried not to cry, not wanting to stain these people's carpet with her tears. She thought of how she might repay them. She thought of what her parents and friends would think after they found out what had happened to her.

And she thought about how lucky she was to be alive.

_I'll never take anything for granted ever again._

O-O-O

The hospital emergency room was as bright as the morning sun outside, and her small section of it was starting to get quite crowded. When the police and EMTs had arrived, Vivian, whose injuries weren't serious, had asked to be transported to a hospital in San Francisco, about an hour and a half away from where she'd been taken by her kidnapper. She didn't want her parents to have to drive more than a few miles to see her, and wanted to be closer to her friends as well. It also gave the police time to take her statement on the drive there, though they said they'd take a more detailed statement from her once she'd recovered.

Her kidnapper had been taken to a different hospital, the closest one to his home. The blow to his head hadn't killed him, but he had suffered a significant traumatic brain injury, and had gone into emergency surgery. The police had begun searching his house, and had found articles from all five of the missing girls... but there was no sign of the girls themselves, dashing Vivian's hopes that any of them might be saved. She knew it would've been a miracle to find them alive, but she'd spent the entire trip to the hospital hoping that they might be.

It was a miracle that she herself had survived.

As it stood, she had some cuts and bruises, and only one broken bone... her right ankle had sustained a hairline fracture. With rest and proper care, it would heal in a month, two at most, and Vivian would be right back on her bike, or a surfboard, or a skateboard, or whatever she wanted to do now that she was alive and okay and free and able to do anything she put her mind to.

“We're so proud of you, _mija_ ,” said Vivian's mother, giving her what must've been the fifteenth tight hug she'd given her daughter in the past two hours. “You're so brave, and so strong... and we're all going to be here for you no matter what.”

Vivian's bed was totally surrounded, her parents and siblings on one side, her five best friends on the other. She'd have more visitors over the course of the day, but in that moment, she had everyone she needed.

“That's right, we'll stay here as long as you need us,” said Stacy, reaching over and placing her hand on her friend's. “Don't worry about a thing, we'll all take care of you.”

“C'mon, guys, I'm a grown ass woman, I can take care of myself,” said Vivian, giving her friends a smile to show that she was going to be all right. “I've got an exam tomorrow, I need to get back to campus.”

“I already talked to all your professors, they're giving you an extension on everything,” said Kirsten. “It's not like I had to, it's all over the news what you did, but I had to make sure. I think one of them canceled class and they're gonna be coming here to see you.”

_Probably Professor Scarpe, my sociology professor,_ thought Vivian.  _I just hope it's not my criminology professor, that guy is obsessed with true crime and I'm not in the mood to talk about what happened to me right now._

“Yeah, you're pretty famous,” said Marceline, who then reached over and took Vivian's other hand. “I... know you probably don't want to be reminded of any of it right now though, so...”

“It's fine,” sighed Vivian, giving her sister another smile. “I think talking with you guys helps, just don't ask me any questions about the details or anything, okay?”

“I don't think I want to know the details,” said Marina with a shudder.

“Marina, I know you would've fought that asshole just as hard as I would have,” said Vivian, looking at all five of her friends. “All of you would have.”

“Yeah, probably, but there's no way any of us could've gotten away from him,” said Elissa, wrapping her arms around herself and shuddering. She'd had her own experience with being kidnapped and held hostage, and while her captors probably hadn't had as evil intentions for her as Vivian's kidnapper did, hearing about her friend suffering a similar trauma was a grim and frightening reminder of her own. “You really are a hero, Vivian.”

“You are the most badass fucking chick I've ever known,” said Alex, placing her hand on Vivian's shoulder.

“Hey, hey, there's young kids in here right now,” said Vivian's mother, sternly glaring at Alex.

“Sorry, Mrs. Martinez,” Alex replied, blushing slightly and remembering similar scoldings she'd gotten for her language from Vivian's parents in the past.

“Aw, lighten the fuck up, mom,” said Marceline with a laugh, before a stern look from both her parents reminded her that even though her older sister had just been through a nightmarish experience, it didn't give her a free pass to swear in front of them at her young age. Indeed, Vivian's ordeal was probably the only thing that spared her from taking a chancla upside the head for her indiscretion.

“I was right, she is even more of a daredevil than I am,” said Vivian. “Marcy, next time you want to risk your life, try riding my bike off a cliff instead.”

The group shared a healthy laugh, and as the morning faded into the afternoon, they tried their best to keep things light and happy for Vivian. When the subject did broach her kidnapping, everyone stayed as sensitive as they possibly could, though Vivian began to feel more at ease talking about it as the day went on, knowing that she was surrounded by people who loved her and would never hurt her.

“So... a bit of an update from the police,” said Stacy, walking back over to the group after being away for a few minutes. “They're saying that the guy who kidnapped you is going to recover... though it might still be a few days before they can start interrogating him.”

Vivian had to admit, she had some mixed feelings about whether or not she wanted the man to live. As much as she despised him and what he'd done, not just to hurt but to his other victims, she also didn't want to be a killer. The weight of taking another person's life, even a reprehensible monster of a person, was almost too much for her soul to bear, and she breathed a small sigh of relief when she was told that he would recover. She also knew that having him alive would be key toward finding the bodies of his victims and providing closure for their families. She didn't want him to get the death penalty, either. She wanted him to go to prison. She wanted him to spend the rest of his life thinking about the pain he'd caused. If he chose to go to trial, she wanted to face him and tell him exactly what she thought of him, to leave him with words that would echo in his mind for the rest of his life.

But that was still so far away... and for the moment, she was just concerned with recovering from what had happened and spending time with the people who cared about her.

“I know it's a sin to seek revenge, but if he was here right now, I'd kill him,” said Vivian's father, who seemed to be stewing with rage. Vivian reached over and gripped her father's hand tightly, and tried her best to calm him down.

“It's okay, I'm going to be okay,” said Vivian.

“Just thinking about what he did makes my blood boil,” her father continued.

“Believe me, we all want a piece of that scumbag,” said Alex. “But Vivian's right, there's no use in spending so much time dwelling on how pissed off you are. Vivian's here, she's safe, and we gotta be there for her.”

“I agree,” said Marina. “Plenty of time later to flip him the bird when he goes on trial.”

“Actually, you're not allowed to do that, it's considered potentially influential to the jury,” said Vivian.

“What? That's bullshit!” Marina replied, earning a glare from Vivian's mom that barely deterred her. “I can't even mouth 'fuck you' to him?”

“Nope,” said Vivian. “But don't worry, if it does go to trial, I'll get to make an impact statement, and I can say whatever I want to him.”

“Good, because I have some suggestions,” said Marina.

“Yeah, we _all_ have some suggestions,” said Kirsten. “But I think it'd be best to let Vivian tell him off in her own words.”

“I think it'd be best for me to get out of here,” said Vivian. She looked at her ankle, which was in a cast, then back over at her parents. “Didn't the doctor say I could go home as soon as I wanted to?”

“I think so, but are you ready, _mija_?” asked Vivian's father.

“Yeah, I think so,” said Vivian, looking around the room. “Is it okay if I spend the week at you guys' house before heading back to campus?”

“Of course you can,” said Vivian's mother, looking over at her daughter's friends. “You're all welcome to come over as well, of course.”

“Thanks, I'll try not to swear or eat too much or anything,” said Alex with a smirk, before leaning in and wrapping her arms around Vivian tightly. “Love you, girl, you know that.”

Vivian leaned up and whispered something into Alex's ear. Alex looked at Vivian, and then nodded.

“Of course we can talk,” Alex whispered back to her.

A short time later, Vivian was being discharged from the hospital, and wheeled over to her parents' waiting van. As her family piled in, and as her friends took to their own cars, Alex wheeled Vivian to a quiet spot nearby so that the two old friends could get some time alone to speak. As soon as they were out of earshot of anyone else, Vivian finally bowed her head and allowed herself to shed a few tears, the first tears she'd cried since she'd been piled into the ambulance that morning.

“Hey... Viv, it's cool, you know you can cry around me, right?” said Alex, reaching over and brushing all the tears from her friend's face. “Cry as much as you want, or yell, or scream, whatever. I'm here.”

“I know,” said Vivian, sniffling as she looked up at her friend with guilt in her eyes. “It's just... I've always been able to take care of myself, and everyone else, but now everyone's going to be trying to take care of me, and I don't want them to! I don't want anyone feeling sorry for me, you know? I don't want anyone's guilt, or sympathy, I don't want anyone waiting on me hand and foot, I don't want....”

Vivian could see Alex starting to back off.

“Alex, no, it's okay... I mean... I.... I need some of that stuff, but I don't want all of it from everyone all the time, you know?”

Alex nodded, and leaned back in.

“I'll be here, and you tell me when to fuck off, okay?” she said with a smile, prompting a smile and a giggle from Vivian as well. “I mean it, if I get too weepy and nice on you, you just start yelling at me and I'll get the hint.”

“Thanks,” said Vivian. “I know this isn't the end of it. And I don't just mean the trial, I mean...”

“PTSD, right,” said Alex. “Elissa went through the same thing after our trip, and Stacy got it for a while after those smugglers jammed her into that box while she and Marina were off on their little thing, and... hell, even I had a couple of nightmares after that whole ordeal with Marina and that car trunk, remember?”

Vivian sighed. She and her friends had been through a lot. They all knew what it was like to be trapped and helpless... but this was different, and both she and Alex knew it. Vivian had been kidnapped by someone far more depraved and evil than anyone they'd ever dealt with before. Vivian's kidnapper had an actual body count. Vivian's kidnapper hadn't taken her out of convenience or greed... she'd been targeted to fulfill his sick fantasies, and had it not been for that split second kick, he would've succeeded.

“I know,” said Alex. “This is _way_ worse.”

“I'm not gonna compare traumas with you guys, don't worry.”

“No, it was worse. We all know that, and we're all here.”

“...I just hope I can get back on a bike again,” said Vivian, bowing her head. “I hope that piece of shit hasn't taken _that_ away from me.”

“I know you,” said Alex. “There's no way you'd let something like this stop you. You're braver than any of us, even braver than Elissa, and she jumps out of planes without parachutes for fun.”

“I am _not_ braver than Elissa,” said Vivian with a smirk.

“You're braver than me,” said Alex.

“I shouldn't have gone alone, that was my problem. If one of you guys had come with me, I wouldn't have been a target. If I hadn't stopped, if I hadn't let my guard down, if I hadn't-”

“Hey... don't second guess yourself, that's when it really gets bad,” Alex told her, placing a hand on her shoulder again. “You'll get back on a bike again, I know it.”

Vivian nodded, but she still wasn't sure. She could already feel the rush of being alone on a mountain, nothing but her bike and the rocks and dirt beneath her wheels, riding down as fast as she could, feeling the wind in her hair and the adrenaline surging through her... but as she thought of all those things that made her happy, she also remembered the lust in her kidnapper's eyes, the pain of all those blows, the sensation of helplessness in her bound limbs, and the feeling that a horrible death was inevitable... and she had no idea how long it would be before she could think of riding her bike without all of those awful memories coming back.

“I won't ask you to be patient with me,” said Vivian.

“You just did, and the answer is of course, silly,” replied Alex, ruffling her hands in Vivian's hair. “Take as much time as you need, we'll all understand no matter what, but I have a feeling you'll be back sooner than you think.”

As Alex continued to place her hands on Vivian to comfort her, Vivian realized that as much as she'd shuddered at her kidnapper's touch, and later, those of the doctors and nurses who'd treated her, she hadn't even once shrunk away from the touch of her family and friends. As much as her psyche was damaged, as much as her trust had been shattered by what had happened to her, she felt absolutely and completely safe with the people she trusted... and in their presence, she knew that she'd be able to recover from her ordeal. It might take longer than she would like it to, but she knew that she'd get back to normal someday. She leaned into Alex's touch, and Alex gave her a tight hug, holding her close and stroking her hands gently up and down her friend's back.

“Is this okay, that I'm touching you?” asked Alex. “I know after people have been through something like this, they don't like-”

“It's always okay,” interrupted Vivian, smiling and rubbing her face in her friend's chest.

“I didn't get a chance to shower this morning.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

Alex giggled, grateful that her friend already seemed to be close to her old self. The two parted, and looked at each other warmly.

“Feeling better?” asked Alex.

As Alex leaned in slightly, Vivian suddenly leaned up and gave her friend a quick kiss on the lips. It lasted only a second, but it was long enough to make Alex blush, her friend never showing this level of affection toward her before.

“Where did _that_ come from?” asked Alex, blinking and slightly shocked, but also smiling.

“Thank you,” replied Vivian. “I think I'm ready to go home now.”

“Heh, right.”

Alex was still blushing as she wheeled her friend over to her parents' van for the ride home, while Vivian leaned back and let the warm sun bathe her aching body. She hadn't slept in more than thirty hours, and she was tired enough to fall asleep right there in her wheelchair, but she'd try to wait until she got home and into bed to close her eyes and actually drift off. She'd experienced a trauma that no one should ever have to go through, but somehow, she'd emerged alive and mostly unharmed, and with the help of everyone who loved her, she knew her mental health would recover as well, even if it took time.

_Someday, I'll get back out there. I'll ride faster and harder._

Vivian closed her eyes and smiled.

_It'll never be like it never happened... but it's okay, because after what's happened to me, I'm going to be stronger than ever before._


End file.
